Maggie Knapp

When the journey is the point, the mode of travel is as important as the destination. Moving from here to there—whether via quiet footfalls or the whisper of wings or sailing with a neatly trimmed spinnaker—fascinates readers and makes them wonder if there are ways to do it more efficiently, more economically, or with more zest and flair. The books on this list answer with a resounding “yes.”

Reference works contain entire worlds, arranged, indexed, and designed to support research and exploration. These aids—hefty both in physical form and in depth and resonance—provide new interpretations, offer access into decades of academic work, and foster fresh ways of thinking.

From a nonfiction work about the gentle giants gliding through the deep and vast seas, to a speculative-fiction book imagining getting swallowed alive by one of these goliaths, LJ’s May issue offers readers of many interests a whale of a story.

Though 2021 was another tough year, it also brought spots of joy with these 37 stellar titles selected by the LJ Best Reference Committee.

Bloomsbury Publishing purchased ABC-CLIO in December 2021 for $22.9 million, bringing ABC-CLIO’s four imprints and 32 databases into U.K.-based Bloomsbury’s academic and professional division.

Representatives from Gale, EBSCO, Oxford University Press, and Bloomsbury discuss upcoming products, the need to address bias, and what makes an ideal reference resource.

The 30+ reference titles honored as the best of 2020 speak to today’s issues and range across arts, literature, health, science, history, and more.

Best-selling author, actor, stand-up comedian, podcaster, and producer Phoebe Robinson partners with Plume to launch the imprint Tiny Reparations Books, which will give her a forum to "highlight and amplify unique and diverse voices."

This year's Best Reference articles are marked by stunning visuals, from the stirring Protest! A History of Social and Political Protest Graphics to the quirky Atlas of Poetic Zoology.